Unfortunately this is only the latest example of an irritating pattern according to which American Republicans--knowing nothing of history outside U.S. borders and little of that within, clueless about real conservatism, and uncritical of the Jacobin interpretation of European history--think it clever to equate their Democratic opponents with allegedly "extravagant" and "tyrannical" European royalty, confident that no one will challenge the premises of their ludicrous analogies. (I am not aware of any specific recent examples of Democrats doing the same sort of thing to Republicans, but they probably exist.) The real Marie Antoinette, of course, was a great benefactress of the poor and certainly never said "let them eat cake."

Isn't it supposed to be the Left who unfairly malign royalty and Christian civilization? But of course most American "conservatives," especially since the ascent of the Trotskyite neocons with the second Bush administration, actually are a kind of "leftist;" arguably America's left-liberals and right-liberals quarrel so strenuously partly because they don't realize how similar they really are. The only Republican presidential candidate who articulates anything resembling authentic historic conservatism even by American standards is Ron Paul. Otherwise, American Republican "conservatism" continually reaches new lows of embarrassing ignorance and should be shunned by all thinking right-wingers.